Friday, September 25, 2009

This is not in Sri Lanka, but in Indonesia.. Can we have your attention please? To everyone who likes to brag about giving birth to 8, 9, even 10-lb. babies, we advise you keep quiet around Ani from Indonesia. The woman recently delivered a 19.2-lb. bruiser, the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the Indonesia.

Ani's epic delivery scored a lot of attention in all search engines . After the "Today" show ran a segment and Al Roker and Matt Lauer made some lighthearted jokes, lookups on "19 pound baby," "indonesian baby," and "heaviest baby ever" all spiked immediately.

And pictures? Oh my, the baby's pictures were also hugely popular. Queries for "19 pound baby photos" jumped from nil into the thousands, and photos within Yahoo! News are drawing big clicks. Not surprisingly, the baby is said to require "near constant feeding."

For those wondering if this baby boy (as of yet unnamed, but we suggest "Hulk") is the heaviest newborn in history, the answer is no. The record belongs to an American infant born in 1879. He weighed 23 pounds, 12 ounces. Sadly, he died a few hours after being born. An ABC station reports that the heaviest baby to survive weighed 22 lbs., 8 ounces. We sure hope the big guy was always extra-nice to his mother.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

An Englishman, a Frenchman and a Sri Lankan Economist, are viewing apainting of Adam and Eve, frolicking in the Garden of Eden.

"Look at their reserve, their calm?" muses the Englishman. "They MUST beEnglish!"

"Nonsense," says the Frenchman. "They are both naked and beautiful. TheyMUST be French!"

"You are both wrong," says the Sri Lankan Economist. "They have noclothes, and no shelter. They have only one apple, for both of them toeat. Yet they are being told, that they are in Paradise. Clearly, they ARE Sri Lankans!"

Monday, September 14, 2009

Sri Lanka's central bank on Friday said its foreign exchange reserves hit a record $3.9 billion after it received its share of a $250 billion International Monetary Fund allocation.

The 875 million US dollar flow from a "US-based fund" will increase the maturity profile of government debt, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said.

"This is a result of a road show we did in the US recently," Cabraal said. "Investors are expecting interest rates to fall further so they can lock in profits." Government rupee bonds now yield about 13.0 percent.

Cabraal said total investments to rupee bonds would rise to the equivalent of about 1,250 million US dollars by Friday. The current ceiling for foreign rupee treasuries’ purchases was about 2.0 billion US dollars, he said.

The country had record high reserves of $3.56 billion by August 2008, pushed up by foreign purchases of government securities that were yielding over 17 percent.

But by year's end, they had plummeted by half with the central bank defending the rupee against depreciation and the withdrawal of more than $600 million after investors cashed in government securities as global financial markets crashed.

Those factors prompted Sri Lanka to reverse political course and pursue IMF assistance.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Channel 4, a British TV channel released the video last week - and it appears to show two bound and blindfolded prisoners being shot in the back of the head as the gunmen laugh.The footage, taken with a mobile phone camera, also shows another six men who appear to have been executed in this way.The Sri Lankan army says the video is a fake, designed to discredit the security forces.But special UN representative Philip Alston told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program: "The responsibility is on the government of Sri Lanka to demonstrate that a video of this quality and this apparent authenticity is, in fact, a fake." But now scientific evidence proves it was a fake!The Channel 4 apparently engaged in a deliberate propaganda campaign against Sri Lankan citizens, has come up with its latest canard about the island nation. A video footage of very poor quality showing two persons clad in combat uniforms shooting down two others has been given a huge publicity by the Channel 4 TV claiming it to be of Sri Lankan soldiers "summarily executing Tamils".Then comes the scene of a man wearing an olive-green overall shooting a naked and loosely blindfolded man with his hands tied behind his back. The victim is shot at point blank range at the back of the head. Then the one with the camera turns at several other males lying on the ground apparently dead. The 1:02.781 (minute) video footage ends showing another man shooting the second blindfolded man in the same fashion as the earlier one. The only difference was the shooter was clad in a camouflaged combat uniform. Throughout the video, several men were heard shouting in Sinhalese and thundering blasts were clearly heard in the background as if the video was taken under heavy fire.

Finally, the whole affair about the video indicates nothing but the dearth of genuineness on the part of the human rights activists in Sri Lanka. Jonathan Miller is certainly an unknown figure to Sri Lankans despite his pretence as an expert in Sri Lanka's affairs. Yet, the people who feed information to Miller, the so-called Sri Lankan rights activists, are well known to all discernible citizens here. Portraying these individuals as rights activists before ordinary Sri Lankan citizens is certainly a laughable matter for everyone knows that it is just a good business for them.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Tourism Promotion Minister Faizer Mustapha says that there was no indecent behaviour displayed at the recently concluded Hikkaduwa Beach Festival, in spite of pictures to the contrary depicting semi-nude women, circulated in the media and via email.

Speaking to Media, in particular on the reports of semi-nudity the Minister said "It is a complete fabrication; it did not happen at the Hikka Festival". He said that the Tourism Ministry had been very conscious of its responsibility to the country's culture and heritage and those measures had been taken to ensure that no indecency prevailed during the course of the four-day extravaganza. The Minister added that given that such stringent measures were put in place that he had been both surprised and shocked at the adverse stories circulating in the media.Source :Daily Mirror

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Barber in NYThere was once a very good barber in NEW YORK , who gave Free Haircuts to everybody who came into his shop to have their haircuts.

One day a florist went to him for a haircut. After the cut, he wanted to pay the barber, but the barber replied: 'It's alright, I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.'The Florist was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open his shop, there was a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting at his door .

A policeman went for a haircut and he also wanted to pay the barber after the cut. But the barber replied: 'I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.'

The cop was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open his shop, there was a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting at his door.

A Sri Lankan software engineer went for a haircut and he also wanted to pay the barber after the cut. But the barber replied: 'I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.' The SL software engineer was very happy and left.

The next morning when the barber went to open his shop, guess what he found there.............